Jakarta Casual

An off beat look at Indonesian and South East Asian football from the terraces or the pub

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Monday, May 31, 2010

From also ran to champion

Former Persita striker Matias Recio has moved on to bigger and better things. Persita missed out on a play off position in the second tier Indonesia Premier League but his performances, highlighted on You Tube, came to the attention of V League side side Da Nang and he now plys his trade there.

Different views

Just been talking to a player who played in the Persija v Arema game yesterday. I asked him what it was like and he said the ref was shit!

I'm thinking about the experience of kicking a ball around with 85,000 fans breathing down your neck, the buzz of performing on that type of stage yet all he wants to do is have a pop at the ref!

If I was a player I would collect every bloody video I could find of that day. Both on the field and off it. I would make it into a single movie. And I would show it to my children. My grandchildren. My in laws. My neighbours. My driver. The guy who drives a taxi nearby. People at work. Shit, I would by an i-Pad and start using public transport just to show the person next to me and say 'yep, I played in that.'

ASEAN's Premier Rivalry

The rivalry comes from a number of sources. England v Scotland of course is geographical with dashes of politics thrown in for good measure. England's rivalry with Germany dates back to 1966 and all that with various military conflicts thrown in to the mix but perhaps that has been replaced by England v Argentina.

As far as I'm aware there was no real rivalry with Marge and Tina until the 1980s when a couple of incidents saw us cross them off our christmas card list. Yes, Antonio Rattin had tried back in the 60s but it was the 80s when it took off.

First was when the Argies invaded a couple of islands which were home to a couple of thousand sheep. Loyal subjects of her maj. Nothing like a war to generate some on/off the field hatred. Then of course when that cheating drug using dwarf punched them through to the semi finals of the World Cup in 1986.

ASEAN lacks such a pedigree and anyway memories are short in this part of the world. But in football terms one fixture stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Thailand v Singapore.

Until 2008 these two countries dominated the ASEAN Cup and even now they consider the Vietnamese are just looking after it for a few months. That later this year one of these two will have it back in safe keeping.

It's also a rivalry of different styles. Thailand with their movement, off the ball running. Singapore more disciplined, more measured, less flamboyant.

Last year in the Asian Cup qualifiers the Thais beat Singapore 3-1 with a wonderful display of pacy football. And yet had the Singaporeans been given a pen early on the outcome could have been more different.

That word if again. Looking back at that game the Thais mullered Singapore but a fine line divides success from failure.

No one gave Singapore a chance in the second leg in Bangkok days later. How do you stop a team which can't keep still? The Lions won 1-0!

Then in an Asian Champions League Qualifier SAFFC came up against Muang Thong United at Jalan Besar. There could surely have only been one winner. Muang Thong's flair would prove too much for SAFFC's efficiency. And over the 120 minutes then yes, Muang Thong had the better of the game. Shahril Jantan was inspired in the Warriors goal but it seemed only a matter of time before Muang Thong would break the deadlock.

But SAFFC won on pens. All the flair in the world couldn't break down a resolute, disciplined defence.

Last week we had SAFFC again up against Thai opposition. This time Bangkok Glass in the Singapore Cup. Coming from behind the home team were soon in a 3-1 lead and the game should have been theres. But the Thais were always a threat. SAFFC corners were a worry for jantan who knew that any lost possession at the other end of the field would soon have three or four Glass Bunnies bearing down on him.

Which is what happened. 3-1 soon became 3-5. Ney Fabiano was the pivot, Suttee the executor. After the game SAFFC coach Richard Bok was lost for words. He was disappointed that on three or four occasions the Thais were allowed to dance along the byline before pulling back unhindered.

It was a fascinating game to watch. I'm not a coach but how do you stop a team that moves the ball around so quickly? Blackburn and Bolton don't bother. Those two teams from northern shit pits in England are cast firmly in the mould of the walrus faced, gum chewing manager Sam Allardyce and their aim, against teams who play football is to stop the player. Not pretty but effective.

Teams like Birmingham and Everton, even Wolves at times last season, tried the other option. Hard work and discipline. By denying space, by closing down.

Arema - Indonesia Super League Champions

Arema, despite their youth (founded 1987), are one of the biggest clubs in Indonesia. With sound marketing and management they could become South East Asia's first truly big club though Muang Thong United may disagree.

Over the weekend Arema fans, known as Aremania, flooded Jakarta. Over 150 coach loads. Trains, one of which was reported to have been attacked Persib/Persebaya fans with one fatality. Planes. I flew into Jakarta from Batam the day before and there was one fan fully kitted out sat near me.

They estimated 10,000 would make the journey. Try double that.

85,000 filled the Bung Karno yesterday to pay homage to Arema. Persija and Arema fans are brothers. Go to Arema home games and you see plenty of Persija orange. Yesterday blue and orange were camped peacefully outside the stadium under a haze of kretek and good humoured chaos.

Arema are more than just a football club. They are a way of life. They are the St Pauli of Indonesia. A culture with in a culture. Satu Jiwa, one heart or one soul.

Not many people backed Arema at the start of the season. They looked a bit light weight and the general feeling was that they needed another striker. Instead coach Robert Alberts pushed Roman Chmelo forward and was rewarded with 14 goals.

For many the stars of the season have been Noh Alam Shah and M Riduan. Endlessy mocked in their own Singapore they have come to Indonesia, been adoped as honouree Malang folk and have become legends.

Riduan has always had pace. What has been missing has been end product and Singaporean can be a very impatient fan. Brought up on a diet of Liverpool and Manchester United they stick with winners and turn on the rest. Riduan was among the rest.

But Arema fans have warmed to the guy and he has responded with plenty of strong perfomances. Freed from the empty terraces of the SLeague where one person's barracking can echo through the heartland, he has stepped on to the Arema canvas and matured. Talk to an Arema fan and they are gobsmacked by the reaction his name gets in Singapore. In Malang he has had his moments but he has perservered and his consistency must give him a chance of being Player of the Year.

Noh Alam Shah! NAS has long been a legend waiting to happen. He ticks all the boxes of personality, character, talent and off the field persona. The guy is larger than life, his importance spreads beyond the field and into the dressing room and training field.

Had Alam Shah been born in Europe and was plying his trade in one of the big leagues you would see his name on the back of football shirts across his home country.

Arema fans recognise though what he is. The cup is always half full, he always plays with a smile on his face and the work rate he puts in, his pressing, is highly appreciated. Wayne Rooney if you like but if you're gonna get stuck in a lift with Rooney or NAS who would you choose?

But while the Singaporean lads have received the plaudits there is a strong Indonesia base to the team. Between the sticks Kurnia Meiga has been so good Markus Horison was allowed to leave. Coach Alberts rates Kurnia the best young keeper in the region. Better than Kawin at Muang Thong United.

Arema have truly had a great season. But the challenge now is to build on that. For the club to move forward they need to start thinking and acting like a professional club. The coach and players have done their part. Now it is up to management to make sure there is stability and continuity.

The best laid plans and all that

I had it all worked out.I flew back from Singapore on the Saturday meaning to take in Persitara v Persijap in the afternoon. I got to the stadium to find some kind of anti smoking gig going on utside and dozens of fans from both teams milling round waiting for something to happen.Buggered if I was going to wait till 7pm for the game so headed to Bung Karno to catch with with Arema training. Their were already thousands of fans milling round the stadium with 24 hours till kick off.Today I went back to Bung Karno trying to get hold of tickets for the Arema game. The estimated 130 buses from Malang had already arrived and there were freaking thousands round the stadium; many had camped overnight.After an exhausting search I finally found some tickets. By then I was knackered, so was the wife and so was my son. The lap top had died on Thursday in Singapore, I had a shit load of work to catch up on, judging by the crowds it looked like another late night. So in the finest tradition of Jakarta Casual we went home!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

And today's attendance is ... ZERO!

Tomorrow it is the turn of Persib Bandung to host a game without any fans. A common occurance here I'm afraid. Indeed 'tanpa penonton' was one of the first Indonesian phrases I learnt.

The home team applies for a permit to hold a game and it is up to the police to say yay or nay. In many countries it is a formality. In Indonesia not even formalities are formalities. And this uncertainty can be a right pain in the pistachios when you are trying to run a business on cash flow.

Most Indonesian clubs of course rely on hand outs but the day will come when it will need to be better run, and it will happen though perhaps not till my lad is my age. And allowing games to go ahead will not be an option.

It seems the fear of something kicking off trumps all else including actual security work. The average football fan, at least in and around Jakarta is a young scally wag with torn jeans, wearing flip flops and wearing club colours. He is not necessarily a thug and needn't be blindly treated like one.

Ensuing calm reigns on the terraces needs cooperation. Supporters club officials bear the brunt here and certainly the ones I get to see at Persija and Persitara do a pretty good job on the whole. Certainly Persija fans take this role seriously and have a whole army of coordinators who do their best to stamp trouble out before it can spread.

One example was a game against Persipura back in 2008 at Bung Karno in the Copa Indonesia. Persipura won, for them beating Persija is like the Germans beating England on penalties, and their fans were allowed to spill on to the field to celebrate. The stadium rocked to the beat of a couple of thousand merry Papuans while the bulk of the Persija support looked on.

There were isolated incidents in the stands but they occurred on the fringes of the main support and never involved more than a handful of individuals. It could have been much worse but the Jakmania officials kept themselves busy and kept tempers in check.

Tellingly the official security services, who allegedly let the Persipura fans on the field in the first place and then utterly failed to get them out of the stadium, were only noticeable in absentia.

Too often though, and especially in Jakarta, the default reaction is to either move the game out of the city or ban fans from attending. A lose lose situation.

Crowd control is a kind of science. There are ways of monitoring a crowd, of taking preventative measures, and of ensuring smooth movement of crowds. All this information is out there or it's just an email away.

What it takes is for a number of bodies to work hand in hand so that any risk of trouble at a football match is minimised while the number of fans allowed to attend is maximised and everyone can go home at the end of the day. But when cooperating is little more than a car boot sale where everything is available at a price then I'm afraid we are still far from the end of games 'tanpa penonton'.

VLeague Average Attendances

I've not given the VLeague half the coverage I had intended to...sorry, I've not given them 2% of what I had hoped. I blame laziness. Plus too many Ngyuens and Phams. And wierd club names. Anyway these attendance figures make interesting reading. Source Viet Football

Hai Phong 24,167

Da Nang 16,857

Dong Thap 16,167

Binh Duong 15,000

Thanh Hoa 10,500

Ninh Binh 10,500

HAGL 9,833

Khanh Hoa 9,714

SLNA 8,857

Nam Dinh 8,417

DT Long An 6,643

Ha Noi T&T 5,143

Hoa Phat 3,500

Navibank Sai Gon 3,167

Average attendance is 10,604 compared for example with Indonesia where 11,158 watched each game I last time I checked.

Not all wine and roses

Football may seem a glamourous life. Tales of sheikhs and oligarchs dripping in gold and cash take their privates jets to England where they are welcomed with open arms and open wallets. Players like Terry and Adebayor, nothing really special, manage to siphon some of that money into their own accounts and live the life of bling while cursing the mechanics of having to actually kick a ball around once in a while.

Not everyone in football though has every waking moment analysed in the tabloids and gutter press. For many it's a job and for others it's an escape from poverty that promises a lot but delivers little.

Indonesian football is rife with tales of professional footballers getting locked up for overstaying their visas. Whose fault is it? Agents bring them over but then offer nothing by way of advise. Players, often from poor backgrounds, aren't told what the immigration requirements are so when they get caught they are the proverbial rabbit in the headlights.

It's easy to get on that high horse, actually not so easy for me, and say these guys should make themselves aware of what they are letting themselves in for. I'm sure it ain't that simple. I don't pretend to understand the ins and outs of West African culture but I wouldn't be surprised if tribal connections trumps most else.

Andy from Kingdom of Football blog was recently on some radio show talking about footballers heading to Asia in search of riches and being left by unscrupulous agents to fend for themselves when they can't find a club. But the tale he relates has a more tragic ending.

Who should educate these young men about the realities on the ground? The agents obviously don't always. The Football Associations don't seem interested. Embassies tend not to worry about their fellow citizens unless they are very rich or cameras are running.

Persitara thinking ahead

With relegation a nailed down certainty* Persitara Jakarta Utara are looking forward to life in the Indonesia Premier League. And there is something to look forward to. After a couple of seasons living the nomadic the team from North Jakarta are looking forward to returning to their spiritual home, Tugu Stadium.

In 2007 they played their home games at Kamal Muara Stadium but with the advent of the Indonesia Super League that venue was deemed unfit for football's best. 2008/2009 saw them hit the road playing home games in Bandung, Soreang and Jepara among others. They even managed a couple of games at Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta.

For the current campaign they have used Soemantri Brojonegoro in the heart of Jakarta. Good enough but for the team who take pride in their Betawi roots still not home.

Last weekend they hosted Persija at Bung Karno Stadium, today they take on Persela at Soemantri Brojonegoro.

Depending on the format of the Indonesia Premier League, and these things have been known to change, they have quite a few local derbies to look forward to next season. Persita, Persikota, Persipasi, Pelita Jaya (if they get relegated), Persikabo and Persikab are all pretty close.

* - of course they may not even be relegated. Rumours still persist that the ISL will be expanded next season to 28 teams in two regional leagues of 14 clubs.

Monday, May 24, 2010

We're On The March, We're Robert's Army

Arema's game against PSPS midweek in Pekanbaru could well be the title clincher. A point for Robert Albert's team would secure their first ever Indonesia Super League. It won't be easy. PSPS have conceded four goals at home all season and have won 12 out of their 15 games played there.

But Arema's fans are an optimistic bunch. Pekanbaru, on the island of Sumatra, is a tad far for even the most fanatic fan so the Aremania have decided party time will be in Jakarta on 30 May when they meet Persija.

It is thought 10,000 blue clad Arema fans will converge on Jakarta for the game that, they hope, will see them presented with the trophy.

They're coming by rail, by bus, by car, by ship. From their home town of Malang, from all over East Java, from Kalimantan, from Riau all roads will lead to Bung Karno Stadium in the heart of Jakarta hoping they will see skipper Pierre Njanka raise the trophy high.

If of course the local police, who do tend to cancel football matches when the whim takes them, allow the game to go ahead. There's no reason to cancel. Arema and Persija fans are like lips and teeth. They are as much united by their respect for each other as their hatred for their rivals, Persebaya and Persib.

Senayan on Sunday could be one big blue and orange party. Wonder if the good burghers who will go about their normal Sunday mall hopping know what they are in for?

Tantan (Persitara)

I was dismissive of Tantan during the first half of the season. Yes he did have some good moments but he was playing a such a poor side that a damp candle would have shone out.

Several people within the game however felt that I was underestimating him. He was looking good, they claimed, because he was playing good. Nothing to do with what's around him, he was doing the business.

Second half of the season and yes, Persitara showed some improvement on the field. Tantan, with a greater mobility than earlier in the campaign, was still showing trickery and guile. But this time there was end product. He was scoring and creating.

Praise has been fulsome though as far as this blog is concerned anonymous. One player was so impressed he was moved to suggest Tantan, formerly with Persikab, could do a job in the lower leagues in England.

Even my old man, who has no idea what's what in the local league, was moved enough during the recent Jakarta derby to suggest there Tantan was a 'good little player.'

Indonesian football is forever in a state of flux and uncertainty but if I had a hat I would put it on Tantan playing at a different club next season.

Singapore Cup

The Singapore up kicks off tonight with Young Lions taking on Home United at Jalan Besar. The 12 SLeague teams are joined by four foreign invitees and the 1st round, or is it now the round of 16, is spread over eight nights.

24/05 Young Lions v Home United

25/05 Balestier Khalsa v Geylang United

26/05 South Melbourne v Gombak United

27/05 SAFFC v Bangkok Glass

28/05 Phnom Penh Crown v Etoile

29/05 Sengkang Punggol v Albirex Niigata

30/05 Tampines Rovers v Woodlands Wellington

31/05 Beijing Guoan v Kitchee

Quarter finals scheduled 27/9 - 4/10 two legs while the semi finals, also two legged are 25/10 - 29/10. The final is a one off affair 14/11.

Last year the cup was won by Geylang United who beat Bangkok Glass in the final 1-0.

Who has won the Singapore Cup?

4 - SAFFC, Home United

3 - Tampines Rovers

1 - Tanjong Pagor, Geylang United

Some interesting faces in this year's competition. As I've said before having South Melbourne is a bloody good thing while Bangkok Glass will be keen to go one better than last season's final defeat and Phnom Penh Crown, entering for the fifth time, will be looking for only their second ever win. Oh yeah and Kutchee Kutchee Kitchee. They sound like a Japanese anime character or a very bad Korean dish, not like a football team at all.

Who will win? Will we see a foreign team win for the first time, will Geylang United hold on to their trophy, will SAFFC see this as their only way into Asian club competition next year? Will I stop asking inane questions?

Memory Lane for Dazza against Hellas

Yeah, I know they're called South Melbourne now, the Hellas has been dropped in the name of progress, political correctness and in a bid to appeal to a broader audience. Which is crap. I knew plenty of people who had Hellas as their second team and they weren't all called Postecogelouopolus.

Time moves on if I haven't and South Melbourne, who I last saw play Wollongong Macedonia at Middle Park in 1991, they won 7-3, will next week be visiting Singapore to compete in the Singapore Cup.

It's probably fair to say the Aussies are the biggest ever team to grace the competition.

In one of those delicious twists of fate that make cup football so exciting they have been drawn against Gombak United. A side with an Aussie connection of their own.

They are coached by Darren Stewart, an NSL legend formerly of APIA Leichhardt while defensive midfielder Goran Subara has been earning rave reviews.

The Bulls have struggled so far this season to find any kind of consistency. No surprise when you are told you cannot use two of your best players and couple of games into the season. Kingsley Njokou and Gabriel Obatola had their permits terminated and had to find clubs anew leaving Stewart with only one striker, the injured Agu Casmir. After desperately trying to get Abbas Saad and Scott Ollerenshaw to come out of retirement he was left to sign players nobody else wanted.

In those circumstances 4th spot is a bloody good achievement though their goals for tally tells its own story. As does losing 1-0 at home to Balestier Khalsa, who would finish in the bottom half of a one team league, they went and drew 3-3 with runaway leaders Tampines Rovers

Gombak United FC 14 6 3 5 15 11 4 21

They are though defensively strong. The imposing Mamadou Bah is partnered by the highly thought of Obadin Aikhena, widely thought of as a future international. Obadin has impressed over the last few years with a series of classy performances for both Gombak United and the Young Lions but not just that. Everyone i speak with cannot say enough of his attitude off the field as well.

Up front Gombak will look to the timeless, ageless, Agu Casmir for goals and inspiration while this type of fixture against a truly big name would be a wonderful opportunity for Fazrul Nawaz to show what he is truly capable of.

For their part while South Melbourne have yet to set their league alight they are proving a tough nut to crack. They sit 7th in the 12 team Victoria State League but have suffered just two defeats all season.

7 South Melbourne 11 5 4 2 21 13 8 13

Like Gombak they have struggled to find any consistency. They beat Hume City (wow, a team named after a road?!) 6-0 then lost their next two games. Last time out they defeated Sunshine George Cross 3-1 which confuses the living bejeez out of me. I thought they had ditched all names that carried ethnic inference?

Anyway it promises to be a great evening in Singapore and South Melbourne can look forward to being blown away by the local's support for their heroes.

"cos remember this. Singapore was recently named the second best sports city in the world. 2nd after...Melbourne!